An essential role for UTX in resolution and activation of bivalent promoters

In the present study, we show that UTX plays an essential role in resolving and activating many retinoic acid (RA)-inducible bivalent genes during the RA-driven differentiation of mouse ESCs treated with a physiologically relevant RA concentration (0.2 μM). We showed that UTX loss and UTX knockdown interfered with the RA-induced differentiation of mouse ESCs. Therefore, our findings indicate that the UTX-mediated resolution and activation of many RA-inducible bivalent genes, including numerous Hoxa-d cluster genes, are required for RA-driven differentiation of mouse ESCs. ChIP-Seq data for H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 were generated along with input data for mouse stem cells with wild type or UTX-depleted genotype and with or without RA treatment.